Last week a federal judge struck down the Biden administration’s attempt to rewrite Title IX protections, which were originally designed to protect educational opportunities for girls and women.
The attorneys general of the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia filed the lawsuit leading to Thursday’s ruling, naming Secretary of Education Miguel Cordova and others as defendants.
The court declared that the Biden administration’s attempt to expand Title IX protections to LGBTQ students violated the U.S. Constitution.
Judge Danny C. Reeves, a George W. Bush appointee sitting on the Eastern U.S. District of Kentucky, delivered the opinion, and ruled that it apply nationwide.
"Because the Final Rule and its corresponding regulations exceed the Department’s authority under Title IX, violate the Constitution, and are the result of arbitrary and capricious agency action, the plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment will be granted and the Department's motion for summary judgment will be denied."
In practice, the Title IX rule change permitted biological male athletes to compete against girls and women, and therefore also violated a more fundamental principle, one going back to Adam and Eve: boys are boys and girls are girls.
The judge also ruled that the changes to Title IX violated First Amendment freedom of speech protections, by forcing people to accept as fact a biological male’s claim that he’s now a female.
"The First Amendment does not permit the government to chill speech or compel affirmance of a belief with which the speaker disagrees in this manner," Reeves wrote.
While Thursday was declared a national day of mourning for the late President Jimmy Carter, it was also a day of jubilation for female athletes — in particular former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines.
"Huge win for girls and women everywhere!!!" wrote Gaines, who since her graduation from Kentucky, has moved from being a champion in the pool to a champion for girls’ and women’s sports.
"This morning, a federal court ruled in favor of reality. Biden's Title IX rewrite has been vacated nationwide," she continued. "Common sense is slowly returning. Thank you, @AGTennessee!"
President-elect Donald Trump promised to end the new Title IX rules "on day-one," but he likely already did — before inauguration Day.
Normally one would expect the government to appeal a loss like this to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — in this case to the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which is fairly conservative.
In addition to hearing appeals from the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky, the Sixth Circuit handles appeals from both judicial districts in Michigan and Ohio, and the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Tennessee.
But it won’t likely be appealed in this case.
Trump will be sworn into office in seven days, and even in the unlikely event that the outgoing Biden administration files an appeal, the incoming Trump administration will likely withdraw it.
That would make the original intent of Title IX — to protect girls and women’s educational opportunities, including in sports — the law of the land once again.
It may not immediately end the practice of organizations such as the NCAA from permitting biological males to compete in girls’ and women’s sports, but it may strangle them until they do.
Meanwhile the insanity has gone global, so much so that four Associated Press sports journalists nominated Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif as its Female Athlete of the Year. Khelif is a biological male who won a gold medal in his weight class by beating the hell out of his female competitors.
If Trump can find a way to restore common sense to the International Olympic Committee, that may help restore sanity to an increasingly insane world.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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